Butterflies no longer flutter around in Justin Grant’s stomach when it comes time to strap into his USAC non-winged sprint car.
“It’s like my ninth full USAC season in a row, so my butterflies are all wore out and dead now,” Grant joked as he stood out in the sticky Florida weather, moments after making the first laps of the season at Ocala Speedway in early February.
The reality for the two-time series champion is that starting a fresh season feels as simple and mundane as sliding the punch card into the clock machine. It’s just another day on the job, even if the job is one that requires Grant to muscle around an 800-horsepower machine at speeds over 100 mph around the tight confines of a dirt track night in and night out.
“I’m just going back to work,” Grant said, a tight smile creasing on his face.
Lucky for him — and unlucky for his competitors — racing is a task he knows how to do well. It showed during the opening weekend at Ocala Speedway, with the TOPP Motorsports driver winning back-to-back races at the three-eighths-mile, D-shaped oval.
That part of the blueprint was executed perfectly.
“I wanted to come out and make a statement, you know. I want to be as good as we can be every night,” said Grant, who is hoping to stay the “TOPP” dog in the non-winged series, pardon the pun.
He’s added an exclamation point or two to his opening statement in the weeks since, having stockpiled four wins in the nine races run thus far. Grant’s latest triumph was at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway on May 4.
Even so, the 33-year-old is knee-deep in “chase” mode.
Due to a few topsy-turvy nights, Grant is ranked fourth in the national point standings — more than 100 points behind leader Logan Seavey. In the five races he hasn’t won, his best result was a pair of 10th-place finishes at Volusia (Fla.) Speedway Park in mid-February.
Aside from that, he’s recorded three finishes outside the top 20.
But it’s not something Grant is losing sleep over — at least not yet — with 40 events left on the USAC schedule. His chemistry with the TOPP Motorsports team is a proven force that shouldn’t be underestimated.
“I’m pretty hands on with this team and we operate it out of my shop. Kevin (Birchmeier, team owner) and I have been racing together for eight years together now,” said Grant, who steers the team’s No. 4 entry.
Their combined winning ability was reflected in last year’s North American Non-Winged Sprint Car Poll, as Grant was recognized as driver of the year and TOPP Motorsports earned the non-winged team of the year award for a second straight year.
The capabilities are there as far as on track performance goes, and Grant also has exactly what he needs behind the scenes.
“My wife at home makes it easy for me to go racing and keeps me excited. You know, she’s not giving me a hard time or bummed out that I’m on the road — there’s so many different things that make this whole thing come together,” Grant explained. “I’m fortunate that I have all of those things and I get to go and do the thing that I love most in the world.”
When asked what keeps him coming back to the non-winged series, Grant had a quick response.
“I’m pretty dim between the ears. I think, generally, if you ask around, most people think it’s because I’m stupid,” he quipped. “But no, I love what I do. I love non-wing sprint cars. They’re a little scary and a little sketchy and I just really enjoy that aspect of it.”
The next USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Championship event is set for Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway on May 10.